Nothing has meaning except the meaning we give it

This is one of my favorite Bob Proctor’s quotes. I use it a lot when giving advice to people facing challenges, dealing with difficult people or having a dilemma about a particular decision.

Actually, I used it with my brother last week as we were talking about what to do with those possessions that you’ve had stored for a while that have “sentimental” value and you find it hard to part with them.

I will personally be facing this scenario next month when I head back to Sydney and decide what to do with all the household belongings from Glen’s and my house that we put in storage. Our new investment apartment is already furnished, so we no longer have use for this storage unit full of incredible memories.

I will definitely be digging deep to decide the fate of so many things that have a special meaning to me. And find the strength to view things like “just a wine decanter”, not as the wedding gift that we enjoyed our first bottle of Penfolds Grange out of.

Sigh.

Well, this week Bob’s quote took on a whole new meaning…if you catch my drift.

In my last post, I mentioned how I have committed to attending regular events to expand and improve myself and delve deeper into understanding who I am.

My big course commitment for 2015 is “The Art of Leadership Mastery” lead by Scott Coady. This course focuses on the embodiment of leadership, and Scott taught a version of this at NASA for eight years.

Early in the program, we are asked to identify our purpose and what we are committed to. We want to be committed to something that gives our lives purpose and meaning.

For me, I am have a commitment to authentic and empowering feminine leadership.

My mission is to be an example of leading from my real, feminine, not masculine, energy and to hold space for all women to do the same however that shows up for them.

I feel it’s time for us to step up and use our unique gifts and work with men toward a brighter future.

In order to successfully embody this purpose and commitment (or really to embody anything), we want to take on certain practices and make them part of our daily routine to build trust and competency in ourselves, so others can also trust us too.

Some of these practices include: centering, stretching, gratitude and attention training, amongst other things.

To be completely honest, the first month I started adopting these new practices I was atrocious at keeping up with them. I was travelling, very busy and out of my regular routine…blah blah blah.

 I could keep telling you any number of excuses but it doesn’t change the fact I fell short of my commitment.

Even when I did do them, I was just going through the motions and doing them so I could tick them off the spreadsheet.

Yes, I’m one of those people who feel an inexplicable sense of accomplishment when I see the long list of ticks against my to-do tasks. And yes, I may have added a couple of things to the list after the fact, just so I could have the satisfaction of adding another tick.

Busted.

Then, at the behest of Scott I read an article called “The Making of a Corporate Athlete”, which describes how to achieve your IPS – Ideal Performance State.

In this article, the author describes the four components of IPS: Physical, Emotional, Mental and Spiritual. It’s a great article filled with a gazillion of great ideas.

One of the awesome ideas shared to achieve sustainable energy and focus is to “recover” every 90 to 120 minutes.

Our body’s hormone, glucose and blood pressure drop every 90 minutes. So, when we keep pushing and forcing ourselves through the day, we are unnecessarily stressing our brains and bodies.

In order to have optimal performance, we want to do something that cleans the slate, refreshes the mind and physically reboots our system.

But what kind of things would I do every 90 minutes that would achieve this?

Oh, hello! Maybe something like centering, stretching, gratitude and attention training would do the job.

Now, to super charge my 90-minute “energy injections”, I infuse these activities with meaning by performing them for my commitment to authentic, empowering feminine leadership.

Now, stretches aren’t simply stretches, they are a mind and body clearing exercise to prepare me for my work toward authentic, empowering feminine leadership.

Attention training is a 5-minute reset for my brain to focus more clearly on authentic, empowering feminine leadership.

Centering is what I do before any new activity to calm my energy and be prepared to be an authentic, empowering feminine leader.

Gratitude is a 5-minute exercise that has me celebrating the wins of completing a task and moving one step closer to being an authentic, empowering feminine leader.

So what goal are you moving toward right now? What are you committed to?

How can you attach your empowered meaning to everything you do in a day to truly embody the future you are creating for yourself?

I challenge you to try this for a week and experience the difference it can make to everything you do, so your practices and daily tasks can transition from “another thing on your list” to having purpose and meaning – the meaning YOU give it!